Small Comforts: Lullabies
by cosmic-mischief
Summary: Without thinking, Dick asked "KF...could you sing me to sleep?"


_A/N: Hey guys, this is another oneshot. I decided to do a Dick-nightmare fic (honestly, it's almost an obligation to write one when your part of this fandom XD) So this story is actually going to be the first in a series called 'Small Comforts'-which is going to be a few stories in the Hurt/Comfort/Romance Nightflash/Birdflash category (It's a shame FF doesn't have a 'series' function :U) At any rate, I will be posting the stories independently-not by chapter (orrr... it depends, I'm still thinking about it XD) :U I figured it's because they can stand alone on their own. So that's about it, hope you guys enjoy and as usual: comments, faves, follows makes me happy .u._

_**Disclaimer:**__I do not own Young Justice, seriously :U please don't sue me._

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><p>The applause was deafening. The roar of the audience, the thunderous clapping, it all sent shivers down his spine. The Flying Graysons stood high up on the trapeze rig and Dick couldn't keep himself from smiling. It had been a great night; a flawless performance riding on the energy of the crowd.<p>

Everything was as it should be.

His father was on the other side. John Grayson was the epitome of pride and happiness at that moment. He beamed at his son, as the both of them indulged in the cheers with waves to the crowd. All their hard work had finally paid off. The light touch of a hand on his shoulder had him turning to face his mother beside him. Dick was met with a mischievous grin and bright clear green eyes. She placed a warm hand on his cheek while demands of an encore echoed.

The lights moved in a spectacular display of color and the background music was blasting through the tent. The scents of popcorn, cotton candy, and candied apples permeated the air. Dick felt the adrenaline in his veins as he joined his parents bowing in acquiescence.

Once again, the spotlights were directed to the young couple. It gave both acrobats an ethereal glow. He watched as his mother stepped up onto the plate. She was a sight to behold with her skin glistening in sweat, her hair a windblown mess and her performance makeup smudged some time ago. Regardless, she was still the most graceful and vivacious woman he had ever laid eyes upon. Dick watched with bated breath as taut muscles held firmly onto the trapeze ring. For a brief moment, Mary Grayson looked back at her son and smiled. Then, she was off…

Suddenly everything was dark.

Applause turned into shrieks of horror and the sound of kazoos mixed in with the crunching sound of flesh and bone. He was jolted awake but he _couldn't wake up_.

'_no…no,nonoNO!'_

He couldn't move. He couldn't even open his eyes. Something was holding him down and the impossible weight of terror on his chest made breathing difficult.

'_Not again, no, please please please—pleeeaase, not again'_

Dick was trapped in his own personal slideshow of trauma as his senses sharpened. The sickening distortion of the macabre murder of his parents played out in slow motion. Everything from that horrible night came rushing in and with it, came the collision of present horrors. He could smell the disgusting mix of Penguin's lair by the docks and taste the sweet treats sold at Haly's Circus. He could feel the crushing grip of Poison Ivy's vines while the sounds of screeching elephants and roaring lions reverberated in his ears. The booming laugh of the Joker was the soundtrack to the vivid image of his parents on the ground. Silent. Motionless. _Bloody_.

He needed to move. He needed to wake up. He tried to open his eyes but they felt sewn shut. His arms and legs were pinned down by a pressure that kept getting worse. There were warm wet tears falling down his face as he whimpered in frustration and fright.

The deep voice of Batman, of _Bruce_, was a brief respite

"_Dick, focus on your feet"_

For the first few months of his adoption, Dick had been constantly plagued with nightmares; the worst of which left him screaming and crying in the dead of night. He remembered feeling insecure, fearing for his place in the Wayne household. He was an extra mouth to feed and had the added baggage of night terrors. The blue eyed boy expected the billionaire playboy to drop him at a moment's notice. Instead, Bruce had stayed with him. Patiently calming him down as he leaned over the queen sized bed protectively. His baritone voice served as the lifeline back to wakefulness and Dick desperately clung to it.

"_I'm right here. Focus on your feet"_

Dick concentrated on moving his feet. Everything else, the horrendous screams, the dark red blood, his _mother's smile_, had to be shoved to the back of his mind. The struggle lasted only for a few minutes but the seconds dragged on torturously. Finally, his big toe twitched.

He was awake.

Dick stared up at the ceiling. He was covered in cold, fear induced sweat and he still felt tears trailing down his face. His black hair was matted down with perspiration and his hands were stiff from clutching the sheets tightly in his sleep. His leg was throbbing from a cramp, due to the sudden jerk of wakefulness. Eventually, his disoriented eyes cleared.

The teen sat up shakily, choking on a sob as he hugged his knees close. His throat constricted painfully as he was wracked with violent shudders. Seven months and thirteen days. That was how long he had been free from his night terrors. He had hoped that under Batman's strict tutelage, as well as his exposure to constant danger, bad dreams would become a thing of the past. Instead, the dreams kept coming—reminders that he was just a boy who still cried out for his lost parents.

Robin harshly rubbed away his tears.

"Breath in, breath out" he commanded of himself.

He masked his terror with anger as he impatiently stood up. His legs crumbled out from under and he quickly reached out to steady himself. He was a complete and utter mess. The Boy Wonder laughed, but it was a pitiful and mirthless sound. He began to walk to his bathroom until he belatedly realized he wasn't at his room back at the manor. He was at Mount Justice.

Unsteadily, he began the slow trek to the bathroom.

ooOoo

Wally was half-heartedly flipping through channels in the lounge. He had been at it since he had arrived at Mount Justice a few hours ago.

Things had gotten heated back home and he needed to escape despite the late hour. He could still hear the disappointed timber of his father's voice. They had been arguing about the future—his future in particular. The conversation played out like a broken record, with his father yelling at him for his unrealistic ideals and his mother looking worriedly by the sidelines; deep inside though, he knew she agreed with her husband.

The freckled teen didn't want to deal with any of it; especially when his opinions were so easily disregarded. He needed a break and so, he had fled to sidekick HQ.

Upon arriving, KF was met with disappointing silence. His friends had gone to bed early, exhausted from a mission he had been excused from. If it were up to him, he would've escaped the suffocating party at his father's work place. Unfortunately, the expectant looks from his parents threw that idea out of the window.

Not being able to hang out with his buddies, the redhead settled for raiding the fridge and channel surfing. His adventures to the kitchen had proven fruitful with an armful of cereal, potato salad, cookies and ham as loot. The idiot box, on the other hand, was proving to be a bit more challenging.

"_Reports are in, conspiracy theorists are insisting on the identity of Superman as—"_ Nope._Click_

"_Only one of you will become the next—"_ Nope. _Click_

"_Who lives in a pineapple under the seeaaa?"_ Maybe… _click_

"_You're impossibly fast and strong—"_ HELL NO! _click click click_

"_You're one hell of a messenger"_

"KF?"

Wally started at the sudden intrusion and turned to face the voice. It was the Boy Wonder clad in a sweat shirt and sweat pants. Robin's trademark shades were on but they were askew.

"Hey dude, I thought you were asleep…?" The speedster asked as he oriented himself towards his friend.

The young hacker smirked, but it was a poor imitation of his usual grin "Yeah, but I had to use the bathroom"

The speedster nodded absentmindedly. Something was… off about his best friend. Green eyes carefully observed the ebony haired boy. Robin seemed aware of his scrutiny however, because he began to back away slowly, almost unnoticeably. Wally had to do something quick.

"Well I gotta—"

"Wanna sit down?"

Dick stopped at the interruption as he thought the question over. The Boy Wonder looked uncharacteristically conflicted.

"I—" a breath "—yeah, sure"

Wally made some room for his friend and Dick sat down carefully. He was seated much farther than usual with his arms crossed over defensively. It was as if he was trying to keep the whole world at bay.

"How about you? Why are you still awake?" Robin asked as he ran a hand through his hair. He hoped the action would seem casual enough to divert from his nervous state, but Kid Flash only leveled him with a thoughtful stare. He looked away.

Normally, his shades provided sufficient cover to hide his features—or at least grab all attention to distract—but there was something different, something wrong in the way the Boy Wonder wore them tonight. From their close proximity and the small slip of space by the bridge of the ebony head's nose, for the briefest of moments—as Dick looked away—the redhead saw puffy red eyes.

He had been crying.

Previous experience hinted at a nightmare.

Wally felt his chest constrict. He knew about the night terrors. The first time he had witnessed them was during a sleepover at Uncle Barry's. Batman had to be called in to calm his ward while he had looked on helplessly beside his uncle.

The Boy Wonder's eyes were pleading with him not to say anything. That, plus the knowledge that Robin would storm off if he tried to baby him, stopped Wally from asking. But the speedster refused to do nothing this time.

"Oh you know, I thought we guys could hang, but you were all asleep so I raided the fridge instead" He replied, trying his damndest to give an earnest smile. It wasn't smooth at all, but the effort had the young acrobat relaxing. His stiff shoulders were lowering incrementally.

"You didn't '_accidentally'_ eat Superboy's cookies did you?" Dick asked, his mouth tilting up a little bit at the predicted answer.

Superboy's cookies were store bought. They were cheap soft butter cookies covered in confectioner and shaped into animals. Conner took to them quickly, except for the monkeys. The clone happily left those at the mercy of the sink grinder or to Wally, depending on which came first.

"Well…" Kid Flash replied sheepishly, hoping that it would lighten up his friend's mood. It did.

Robin smiled at him, shaking his head in fond exasperation. "You do know one of these days M'gann or Kaldur won't be able to calm him down before he tries to crush you right?"

"Dude, have you tasted them? They're totally worth getting smooshed over" KF exclaimed as he squished his cheeks together. The Boy Wonder chuckled as he reached out to grab a packet of cereal. It was out of his hands in the blink of an eye.

Wally was holding the small package possessively against his chest. "_Mine_"

Dick raised an eyebrow at his friend and looked around significantly at all the other emptied packs of sugary goodness. In reply, the speedster just narrowed his eyes and slunk further into his side of the couch. The younger teen sighed and turned his attention to the ignored television. He frowned as he watched the ending credits of whatever movie was playing. KF merely grinned victoriously at him. Once he was certain the redhead had lowered his guard, he launched himself.

The Boy Wonder tightly wrapped his arms around the older hero as they both squirmed. KF was trying, and failing, to keep the treasured cereal out of the blue eyed boy's reach. It was spilling out from all their rough housing but their laughter hinted that they didn't really care. Eventually, all the small star-shaped bits were on the floor.

Robin was trying to reign in his laughter. He didn't want to wake Conner up after all. Wally on the other hand, was guffawing out loud. The sound was familiar and free, and Dick felt safe. After a while, the younger hero lazily laid on top of his friend and blue eyes met green.

"You should get some sleep" Wally said softly.

Dick was taken aback; he thought they had agreed to drop the topic. He was mad and felt illogically betrayed. He didn't want to remember any of it and yet here was KF shoving it right back in his face. Detesting his own vulnerability, the Boy Wonder glared at his friend before beginning to rise.

But an arm encircled him and he froze. He looked up at Wally. The pale freckled face was kind and gentle. It reminded him of _someone_ and his breath hitched.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Dick asked, his voice shaky.

"You need a hug" the speedster replied with surety and a brief tightening of his arms.

Robin tried to free himself from the firm hold of his friend. He began to protest angrily "I don't—"

"Dick." The honeyed voice of the redhead had him looking up. The concerned emerald eyes, so similar to his mother's, took out all the fight left in him. There were tears stinging his eyes now.

Wally reached up to take the acrobat's eyewear while Dick buried his face on Kid Flash' chest.

"…don't want to sleep" the blue eyed teen mumbled as he felt the comforting touch on his back. The rhythmic circling of the speedster's hand and the _thump-thump-thump_ of his heart began to calm Dick down. The little bird clung tighter onto his friend.

Instead of the expected range of consoling words and endless questions, all Dick got was an '_hmm'_. Strangely enough, the rumbling sound reverberating in the older teen's chest proved an effective deterrent to his sniffling. Wally's warm embrace had him closing his eyes.

There was a memory of the circus imprinted in his mind—a _good one_. He remembered it now, details and all. It had been a cold February night, when the show was cancelled indefinitely due to bad weather. It had been one of the harder times of being part of a travelling circus band and the troupe had to make do with the large overhead tent and a makeshift campfire. He had only been six or seven at the time but he was as stubborn then as he was now. His parents had been trying to get him to sleep, but it was to no avail. He was too cold and hungry. Eventually, John and Mary Grayson settled for holding him close. The other band of performers who saw this began to huddle together as well, as they all tried to ward away the cold. After a time, the troupe was knit, close as sardines, around the fire. One of the performers began to hum the opening tune of the circus and eventually more followed.

The little bird had watched it all happen by his rightful place between his parents. The glow of the campfire, the singing voices and the scent of his mother's perfume and his father's aftershave all meshed together in one magical experience. It was a bittersweet realization that no one else would witness what Dick considered one of the greatest performances in Haly's Circus other than its own actors.

Without thinking, Dick asked "KF…could you sing me to sleep?"

The hand rubbing his back stopped abruptly as the speedster's eyes widened "Uhh…what?"

Dick bit his lip as he replied "…n-nevermind"

The little bird began to rise from the redhead's embrace. What the hell was he thinking? Who the heck asked their best friend to sing them to sleep?

_Still, he sort of wished…_

Meanwhile, Wally awkwardly let his friend leave his hold. Had Dick just asked him to sing a lullaby? Well, that was…weird.

_Still_…

"Ya know, Aunt Iris used to sing me to sleep too…" The speedster's voice sounded out, lessening the tension. Robin looked at his friend in surprise and mild disbelief. Kid Flash only blinked at him. Once. Twice.

"Wait a minute KF, so… are you offering to sing me a lullaby?" Dick tried to keep the hope out of his voice. He didn't think he succeeded.

"Uhhh… Well, I guess if you think it would help…?"

Wally's green eyes were bright and questioning. Subtly, the redhead's arms opened a bit. It was an invitation and Dick felt embarrassed but buried his flaming cheeks back on the speedster's chest all the same. Nuzzling it as he said a faint "Yes"

There was a brief moment of silence on Kid Flash's end as he tried to steady his speeding heart. His freckles were hidden by the red of his cheeks and his mind was empty.

He couldn't think of a single damn song.

"Well?" Dick urged and Wally whined pathetically.

"Hold your horses Boy Wonderful" He said as he poked his nose at the crown of Robin's head. What in the world would he sing? What songs _were_ there to sing?

At Dick's impatient huff, he hurriedly wracked his brain, looking around in panic. His eyes widened and he settled on the first thing he could think of. He took a deep breath and as he did so, the little bird in his arms prepared to be blown away.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star…"

Dick sputtered out.

He quickly looked up at the redhead only to find Wally tomato red. They stared at each other; Dick hopelessly tried to keep himself from laughing while Wally looked anywhere else other than the ebony haired boy in his arms.

"What?" The speedster croaked out.

Robin cackled

"Oh shut up dude" He said as he poked the younger boy's side. Dick twitched in reply but kept on laughing. Annoyed and humiliated, Wally began to tickle his friend in retribution. The younger boy tried to protect his sides but his efforts proved futile under the speedster's lightning quick touch. Out of breath and with a tired gut, the acrobat pleaded mercy. Wally poked him a few more times, laughing all the while before finally stopping.

Dick still giggled every so often but stopped once he felt the speedster's hand combing gently through his hair. The touch was comforting and the acrobat smiled as he inhaled deeply to replenish his overworked lungs. At the back of his mind, he noted that Wally smelled distinctly like pancakes. The speedster probably had his own brand of toiletries; complete with Hotcake Eau de Parfum, Maple Syrup gel and Cool Whip shaving cream. Robin snorted at the idea.

"…_how I wonder what you are"_The voice was soft but Dick heard it all the same. He looked up in surprise as he hurriedly tried to placate his friend.

"It's ok KF, you can stop now" he said, but the older teen was stubborn and only made his voice louder.

"Up above the world so high" His voice cracked every so often but Dick couldn't laugh. There was something in the speedster's eyes that had him holding back any and all insults—a certain gleam and tenderness that had his heart racing.

"No, seriously, it's fine man" he said, playing with the loose threads on the redhead's shirt. He never thought his face could feel this hot nor his body this…_giddy_?

"Like a diamond in the sky" there was a small movement as Kid Flash lowered his head to rest on the younger teen's own. His breath was blowing the ebony locks and Dick shivered in response.

"Twinkle twinkle little star… how I wonder what you are" Wally finished with a soft kiss on Dick's forehead.

It was an innocent gesture but it set Robin's heart racing all the same. Dick didn't know why he felt forlorn at the thought that the ridiculously stupid and wonderful and amazing and kind speedster meaning it purely platonically. The blue eyed boy looked up once again and was met with a smile that stopped all logical thought. His heart was putty in KF's hands now. Wally leaned towards him slowly but before their lips could touch, Dick caught sight of the soiled treats on the floor.

He just couldn't stop himself, _honestly_.

"Honey Stars KF, seriously?" Robin asked with a smirk on his face

Wally stopped only a few centimeters away. The redhead's '_busted'_ look had Dick shaking in mirth.

"Yeah… well, I…couldn't think of anything else" Kid Flash replied as he looked away sullenly. His face was ablaze however, and Dick found his pouting endearing. Quickly, he leaned up to peck the speedster's freckled cheek.

Wally's reaction was instantaneous. He turned his full attention back on the younger teen in his arms. His heartbeat was a drum solo playing under Dick's hand.

Dick smiled at him as well, before lowering his head back down on the muscled chest. Maybe they could have something more but he wanted it to happen after they both thought it over. Robin, the Boy Wonder, one of the most impulsive heroes in the planet, didn't want any romantic relationship with his best friend to be a spur of the moment thing. The irony was not lost on him

He knew Wally would understand.

"Twinkle twinkle little star…" Dick sang, his voice lifting up at the end as a form of request. KF obliged him easily.

By the second round, Dick managed to get his giggling under control and Wally managed to steady his hammering heart. By the seventh round, Dick had closed his eyes while Wally's singing began to tone down. By the eleventh round, Wally was asleep and Dick felt his heart swell in affection. Closing his eyes, the little bird sang softly under his breath before joining the redhead in peaceful slumber.

'_Twinkle twinkle little star_

_How I wonder what you are_

_Up above the world so high_

_Like a diamond in the sky_

_Twinkle twinkle little star_

_How I wonder what you are'_


End file.
